Jones indicates Waters now starter at right guard

IRVING – Jerry Jones indicated Tuesday that Brian Waters will replace Mackenzy Bernadeau as the Dallas Cowboys’ right guard, a move the owner believes will help jump start the club’s floundering running game.

The Cowboys signed Waters, a six-time Pro Bowler who sat out last season for personal reasons, Sept. 3. He logged 18 snaps – his first action with the team – in Sunday’s game at Kansas City, a 17-16 loss in which Dallas gained 37 yards on the ground in just 16 attempts.

“We thought Waters played good for the number of snaps he (had),” Jones said on his radio show aired on Dallas’ KRLD-FM. “So Waters will be in there. That’ll improve us.”

Coach Jason Garrett also believes Waters will help spark the running game.

“The more he plays, the better he’ll get,” Garrett said Monday. “But he did a nice job starting out in the game (Sunday).”

The Cowboys ranked 31st in the NFL last season in rushing after producing just 1,265 yards, a franchise-low for a 16-game season. The club vowed at every turn in the offseason to improve in that area, a promise that led them to make changes at offensive coordinator and running backs coach and draft center Travis Frederick in the first round.

So far, none of those changes have made a difference. But Jones is optimistic that things will turn around soon.

“We are implementing more tight ends in our offense,” he said. “That ought to give us better blocking than we’ve had in the past. (Second-year tight end James) Hanna played an outstanding game. He’s going to be more of a factor for us. When I look at everything, I see improvement in the future in our running game.”